- Blake Griffin. I know this sounds like a no brainer, but Blake hasn’t had his normal efficiency in the last few games. In the first matchup against the Bucks though, he scored 32 points on 13 for 20 shooting on dunks, pick and rolls, solid shooting and perfect performance from the free throw line. The Clippers need to keep Blake moving, because Ilyasova doesn’t have the strength and Bogut doesn’t have the speed.

- Interior defense. The last few games the Clippers have been lit up inside by the likes o J.J. Hickson and Ed Davis. It’s not just Blake’s fault, just DeAndre’s fault, just Cookie’s fault or just Vinny’s fault, it’s everyone’s fault and they need to do a better job against opponents’ bigs. Bogut is a very talented center, he shot 6 for 9 in the last game. Ersan Ilyasova shot 7 for 8 and Luc Mbah a Moute shot 5 for 5. The Clippers were lucky that the Bucks shot so much from the outside, otherwise they might have won. On top of that, the Clippers will have to worry about the sneaky quick Brandon Jennings slicing through the lane.

- Ball movement. The Clippers offense had very little passing over the weekend, each player thinking that they could always score on their own. Not the case, and it made fore more work. The Clippers are at their best when they are passing the ball, out of pick and rolls, when Blake is sniping passes from the high post, when Gomes and Foye are swinging it around the arc. This team needs movement, especially against a sound defensive team like the Bucks.

Injury Report

Chris Kaman: left ankle, out
Craig Smith: herniated disc, out
Eric Gordon: wrist/back, day to day

Corey Maggette: lower back, day to day
Drew Gooden: left foot plantar fasciitis, out
Larry Sanders: back spasms, day to day
Michael Redd: left knee, out

I blame Del Negro for letting Davis out of his box. So far on the six games of this road trip, Davis has led the team in shots-taken in four games and he was close in the other two. Davis has also led the team to a 1-5 road trip. That’s what happens when the coach lets Davis out . . . the rest of the team stagnates on offense and disintegrates on defense and they lose two straight games to the two worst teams in the East.

Davis was talking on the pregame show before the Cleveland game about how now the team trusts him. He also did his riff in the paper about how he was the “leader” , extolling “wisdom” and being the “enforcer”. That’s Davis at his out-of-his-box worst. He’s led the Clippers into a ditch, as he always does when let out of his box.

The Clippers currently qualify as the worst team in the NBA, not overall in the whole season but at this moment in time. How much more of his “enforcer” “wisdom” and can the Clippers take?

Back in his box! Immediately!!!

Sean

Dude you are a fucken moron. Every loss you blame it on Baron. It’s Gomes, Foye, DJ, Bledsoe and Cook!! Have you heard of these guys? You must not know shit about Clippers basketball but to just blame Baron for every loss. This team right now just does not know how to play smart team basketball and their interior defense is complete trash as of late. Every team is able to do whatever they want inside the paint. YOU need to stop watching Clippers game if you gonna blame every loss on Davis.

http://Lou Lou

I agree with Murphy about the interior defense, I remember last time the Clippers beat the Lakers Phil Jackson made a comment about the Clippers, he says he was impressed with DeAndre’s game. He seems he is mentally gone.

JoeLuis

Dump has convinced me, It’s David’s fault! NOT.
On a serious note VND has to lead the way. He needs to generate plays where it doesnt involve 3 of the 5 guys to be standing around. We need to generate plays and have the opposition on their tippi-toes!. There’s no way we should play this different playing at home than playing on the road! We should hire a motivational speaker or something. (like the lakers just did) . The team has soo much potential, but its not happening! not on the road atleast.
What happened to DJ after we played the mavs in his hometown? (he’s sucked since then)
All i want for christmas is for the clips to play some descent ‘D’.

http://www.firedunleavy.com FD

Please no more NOT jokes. They went out of style about 10 years ago.

joeluis

I like to keep it OldStyle Yo! I reminds me when the clips had harper and manning ah those were the days… Not… jk. (that was the last one promise)

So who did we made famous today ah .. lets see oh yea unknown Delfino!! Unfreaking believable!

clipperbull

The sad truth about the Clippers is that they’re not a good enough team to deal with the loss of key players beyond a limited amount of games. They clearly struggled when Baron was out early in the season. Somehow, they managed to tread water when EJ got hurt but now they’re sinking. The team is young, lacks depth, and has yet to figure out how to consistently win on the road.

Until yesterday, the Clippers fought admirably on this road trip. They almost stole a game in Atlanta and they played great in New York. They had no business beating Miami or Orlando (and they didn’t). They played hard against Cleveland. It was a disappointing but understandable loss. Toronto was a disaster.

Baron has been great on this road trip but his main strength is as a facilitator and without EJ in the lineup, the team lacks the necessary weapons. Gomes and Foye have been inconsistent. Jordan seems lost right now. Blake is drawing all the heat and is starting to get frustrated.

The team has shown signs of greatness and if everyone can get healthy, they will be a force to be reckoned with. They aren’t where they need to be defensively but with all their problems, they are only a piece or two away from contending. Right now they have to figure out a way to ride out the storm.

No many parts wrong with that. Dump Davis has hated BD since college. He would have never signed him in the first place. If DD took over the Clippers right now, he’s release Davis or try to trade him for nothing to the worst city possible.

Also, DTS wants the fame and attention being an NBA owner brings. Money isn’t an issue on selling the team.

Hiretarktheshark.com

Why is kaman not playing? I was watching the game when he “sprained” his ankle…. He hasn’t played in 3 months. I watched yesterdays game when d wade stepped on pierces foot an twisted it the exact same amount…dude got up and finished the game. Fall down 7 times get up 8. Kaman = fall down 1 time get up 0.

And you can’t blame Davis for putting up a lot of shots, because no one else can shoot.

ImissQ

John Salmons kinda looks like DJ

Steve

Horrible. Just so horrible.

http://cavalierthoughts.wordpress.com Rich

Just no two ways about it. This is a team that is near the bottom of the barrel in offensive talent sans Gordon and Kaman. One day, Bledsoe and Aminu will be fine players, but today..not good enough. At one point, the Clippers had a team on the court that consisted of Bledsoe, Jordan, and Cook and no Griffin. I’m not sure if that team could shoot 45% if alone in the gym. Griffin isn’t going to be efficient so long as the Clippers don’t have Gordon. He is getting tripled team and teams are just daring Gomes or Foye to be productive and make them pay. They haven’t. Untill Gordon gets back, this team will continue to struggle to score against teams that play any semblence of defense (so not the Cavs or the Knicks).

RimReaper

I concur. VDN only compounds his errors by playing Brian Cook instead of Ike Diogu.

joeluis

+ 1 What’s whith that!! Cookie? really? C’mon VND!

Metal Matty

Bledsoe needs to stop blazing around like a roadrunner with it’s head cut off for no reason. He is a good player when he just plays under control.

I’m sure he’s been told this, but it doesn’t seem to be sinking in.

When the shot clock is about to expire he can blaze around all he wants. The rest of the time, he needs to play like there are other out there helping him and making the game easy when you use your head instead of your athleticisim.

Richard W.

VDN HAS to be the worst coach in the NBA.. The Clips need to do more than run Pick & Roll, and Dump it in to Blake 90% of the time.. The Offensive sets are Pathetic, and I won’t even get started on his substitution “pattern”.. Smh

I wonder if Jerry Sloan will take the job.?. Lol

orville85

All this stuff leads back to Sterling. For one, any coaches and players who are self respecting stay far away from the man, his money, and his team.

He goes and finds coaches who don’t have a complete concept of winning basketball, because if they did, they’d stay far away from Sterling. The Clips bench is perennially thin because of Sterling’s tight wallet and the similar relationship (though Sterling even needs more control here) he has with his GM (as with his head coach). I’m sure Olshey is a nice guy, but, obviously someone who’s dreadfully lacking NBA experience in the trenches.

To top it off, we’re bombarded with Blake’s dunks-exciting, but where have they gotten us- so Sterling can make a few more bucks off a team that is terminally irrelevant in terms of competing at an elite level. Looks like another lottery pick is looming in the near future for the LA Clippers. Nice work Sterling.

http://cavalierthoughts.wordpress.com Rich

Another lottery pick is what they need anyway. The bench, which is thin now, probably won’t be in two years when Aminu and Bledsoe develop. You can forget those two guys are still really raw and have a ways to go.

While I don’t think Kaman is a good fit next to Griffin, he is dearly missed with Gordon gone. If you have Gordon, then you have the other scoring option and Kaman isn’t needed. But right now, he’d be an improvement over Brian Cook.

RimReaper

We need to use that lottery pick to find or trade for a good small forward.

Metal Matty

We don’t need THIS or THAT position filled. We are not sturggling to beat the Pacers, Sixers, Bobcats. We are struggling to beat Cleveland and Toronto and can’t even stay in the game against Milwakee. This has NOTHING to do with needing a piece. This is lack of accountability and professionalism as a unit.